| Adoption Status: ADOPTED
13,266 acres (20.7 square miles)
How to get there
Assignation Ridge RA is located 6 miles south of Carbondale,
and just NW of Redstone.
- From
Carbondale take State Highway (SH) 133 to the south. The Perham Creek Trail
begins on the west side of the highway about 3 miles south of the forest
boundary. This trail crosses Assignation Ridge to South Thompson Creek.
- From
Redstone, turn west on FS 307 toward Coal Basin. About 3 miles up this road is
the Braderich Creek trailhead (1952) on the right. This trail goes north to
South Thompson Creek, and is the western boundary of the unit.
- The
USGS 7 1/2’ quads for Assignation Ridge RA are Stony Ridge, Mount Sopris,
Placita, and Redstone.
Setting
Assignation Ridge RA sits on the divide between the Crystal
River and South Thompson Creek. The bulk of the unit consists of rolling hills
and craggy drainages covered in diverse plant communities. These include aspen,
mountain shrubs, sagebrush, Gambel oak, Douglas fir, and pinyon/juniper. The
precipitous slopes near the eastern boundary of the unit display enormous red
sandstone cliffs that tower over the Crystal River valley, and give Redstone
its name. The elevation ranges from 6,700 feet at the Crystal River to 10,614
feet on the divide.
What’s special about it?
This unit, despite its proximity to the Town of Carbondale,
is very undisturbed, and retains a wild and natural quality. The area is
well-known for its large diversity of plant communities, and has been proposed
to be a Research Natural Area by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP).
The RA also contains part of CNHP’s Middle Thompson Creek Potential
Conservation Area, and is adjacent to the Smith Gulch Potential Conservation
Area.
Assignation Ridge RA is part of a critical big game migration
corridor between the Maroon Bells/Snowmass Wilderness and the Thompson Creek
roadless complex. It also provides access to lower elevation winter range on
BLM roadless land to the north.
The Crystal River has been proposed to be Wild & Scenic
River, and the Assignation Ridge area provides a significant scenic backdrop to
this valley. Trails in the area are popular with hikers and horseback riders,
and a moderate amount of elk hunters are present in the fall. There are also
popular ice climbing areas on the sandstone cliffs along the Crystal River.
The WRNF recommended this area for wilderness designation in
the 2002 Revised Forest Plan and is being managed to not impair its wilderness
qualities until Congress acts on this recommendation. Until then, the area’s
Recommended Wilderness status could easily be changed to a zoning that allows
ecologically damaging activities like natural gas development and timber
harvest.
Potential threats
The primary threat to this area is illegal motorized
incursion from public and private lands to the NW of the unit. Oil and gas
exploration could alter the character of this area.
Other info
There are two active cattle allotments in the unit. The
Assignation Ridge RA is contiguous with an 8,148 acre roadless section of BLM
lands to the north, near Carbondale. In addition, conservation groups have
identified 4,398 more acres of roadless area adjacent to the SW portion of the
unit. The total size of this roadless complex is 25,812 acres (40.3 square
miles).
|
;)
;)